Lernerville: A Dirt Track Family

What is Lernerville? It’s a simple question, right? It’s a speedway. A race track. A half-mile stretch of banked dirt. But then you talk to a driver or a fan. And their answers are quite different.

It’s a culture, experience, lifestyle. It’s a passion.

For the racers, the best part of Lernerville isn’t the speed, it’s the other drivers and the support system they share. “This sport, it’s a family,” says Bryan Colbert, a Peoples employee and avid Lernerville fan. “The competitors care for each other, they help each other on race night, and then they help each other during the week. They care about each other.”

For nearly 50 years, Lernerville Speedway has delighted drivers and fans alike with the Fab4 divisions: Peoples DIRTcar Sprints, Precise Racing Products DIRTcar Late Models, Diehl Auto Group DIRTcar Northeast Big Block Modifieds, and the ever popular Millerstown Pic-A-Part DIRTcar Sportsman/Stock.

Don Martin, co-founder and original promoter of Lernerville Speedway, along with Earl Bauman, Dale Hafer, and Bucky Fleming first broke ground on the original quarter-mile track in 1967, at the old Lernerville Park—a popular 1940s amusement park. Since then, the track has been enlarged three times, now clocking in at a half mile and seating a staggering 12,000 fans. Today, Lernerville attracts a unique crowd from all over the country, all with one thing in common: a passion for high-octane, adrenaline-fueled fun.

This family-friendly culture really stems from the racers themselves, who come from all walks of life. They’re mechanics, road workers, teachers, and businessmen, but that doesn’t matter once the engines roar and the dust churns up.

“The racers show their passion for the sport,” Colbert says. “They give so much time and effort to compete and come to the track. And the families always support them. Win, lose, or draw, they come and compete, and then go home to their everyday lives. Then next week, they come back to compete again.”

There’s certainly something thrilling about this sport, but Lernerville itself is special. It’s a magnetic place, a community of people who sit in the stands and cheer on their neighbors and coworkers, their friends, their fathers and sons. “This isn’t driving on the street,” says Colbert. “This is not what you see on TV, it’s much more vibrant. It's the sensation of speed and color.” And for him, experiencing such a rush, even from the bleachers, has fueled a lifelong fascination.

Lernerville Speedway remains a staple in our region, bringing people together night in and night out. And that's why we’re so honored to support Lernerville again this year. We want to help keep this amazing community alive, because it means so much to so many.

“You have to experience this sport,” Colbert puts it simply. “It’s not the same as a ball game.”